What do the new restrictions mean for Studio1825 as we enter the autumn season?
Sep 22 Written By Kirsty Corbett
WOW - what a year it has been! I don’t know about you, but I feel so grateful we’ve been able to spend time with our young family and that lockdown was during the summer months as opposed to the autumn & winter we’re about to enter.
I watched with much anticipation, as I am sure many of you did, this lunchtime’s briefing (22 September 2020) from Boris Johnson and Westminster. The good news is that, because we’re not a high street “bums on seats” machine our laid back style can remain intact and we’re fairly sure that you won’t notice that much of a difference which in this new age of having to pre-book everything, early night shut downs and numerous head counting can surely be a refreshing, right?
I’m going to be honest… As a mum, my heart is absolutely racing. My nine year old has a suppressed immune system and I have serious head and heart on the most mundane tasks - from sending her to school to organising her younger sister’s birthday party (It’s in November but I like to be prepared!). As a daughter, my mum has recently beaten breast cancer and her feisty (that’s the polite word for stubborn) attitude has seen her kick it’s backside and remain in her office seat, shortly after treatment, at a local college in Yorkshire, supporting students from across the country. As for me? I managed to get diagnosed with pneumonia in July! All is well but I’m still taking it steady and my aim is to take on the big hill linking our village of Nether Heage, with the neighbouring Heage (on the outskirts of Belper) without getting breathless before the end of the year!
HOWEVER, my role with you lot, in Be Bold Be You and Studio1825, is to listen. I listen to your stories. I listen to your personalities. I (hopefully!) guide you on style’s of photography so that we can ensure that those photographs are unique to you and not another selfie with a filter attached. I owe you a MASSIVE thank you - you’ve allowed me to ask YOU the questions when it comes to covid-19 and you’ve let me learn how you want this experience to work so that you can enjoy YOUR time and leave covid-19 at the door… And leaving covid-19 at the door sounds amazing, right?
SO - what does covid-19 mean for both Studio 1825 & Be Bold Be You Photography? In regards to Studio1825 we’re going to do the following to move forward:
Following Boris' announcement this afternoon (22 September 2020) both James & I feel we made the right decision in limiting newborn art based experiences to one a day. We’ve now decided to keep this as a studio rule for the foreseeable future.
Furthermore, we’ve decided to only photography up to two newborns a week. This is so that we're able to isolate all props for 72 hours as well as ensure that all blankets used are machine washed, at a minimum of 40degrees, beforehand. We know this means that the hand made felts that you all ask for and love won't be available however there's lots of other props available to you and it's better to be safe than sorry! This decision does mean, however, that we can only book up to 4-7 newborns a month (without getting too detailed, if we know the sex of the baby we can ensure we've got the blankets if we don't then it doesn't matter and we'll just make that newborn the only one of that week). This will impact our business financially but we are, quite frankly, proud that client's have felt safe in our environment and we wouldn't want it any other way.
Following the government's announcements we've, reluctantly, decided to put a halt on all large family based shoots. This is because these usually include family members from different households and it's quite common for people to be travelling from all over the country for these types of experiences. We will still be going ahead with shoots with up to six participants (including both adults and children).
With heavy hearts we've decided to postpone the selling of any future "Watch Me Grow" experiences until further notice. Again, we know this will impact our business financially however it doesn't seem right to be newly selling milestone based shoots when we don't know if, once that milestone is hit, we'll be able to go ahead with the experience at that time. Those who are already on these plans need not panic - we've got a few ideas up our sleeves that, depending on what the situation is nearer the time of your milestone shoot, we'll be in touch with.
We will be continuing our protocol of asking all client’s to e-sign our covid-19 guidelines, before the day of their shoot, so everybody is known what is expected of them to protect both them, us and our families
We’ve invested in more machine washable blankets, throws and fabrics to ensure we can both isolate and thoroughly wash key props between shoots. This does mean that the hand crafted satins that you all love will not be available for 2020 however we’d much prefer to be safe than sorry for you all!
The good news:
this family run, independent business, is still very much alive and kicking! We really hope you'll join us and we'll all be able to look after each other, this christmas.
J&K